featured artists»Nobuaki Nakashima

The work of artist Nobuaki Nakashima has a fleetness that immediately engages any viewer. He nimbly creates an excellent tension among the various elements of each painting.

The compositions are dynamic, spontaneous, but also thoughtful. They move, stormily, across the canvas but with a steadiness at the core. There is a note of confidence and a solid grounding which works because it does not slow the pace or dull the excitement.

There is also a visual depth to the work, leading the eye into the brushstrokes, into the color, into the motion. This provides an experience of more than simply viewing a painting; instead we get a glimpse of the evolution of the piece. This condensing of time (seeing somehow both the beginning and ending of a work at once) allows us to know a bit about the decisions made during the making of it. We see the layers and this adds an edginess, which complements that honesty and intimacy.

It is a painting, it is an experience, and it is a way to see that those can be one in the same when all the elements are balanced, aligned, trimmed in.

Nakashima began his career as a painter in Japan in the late 70's. In the 80's, after working as a graphic designer for several years, he traveled to the U.S. and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts where he received an MFA. His work has been exhibited in Tokyo as well as the Philadelphia area and has won numerous awards. For more information, go to nobuakinakashima.com.